Getty Chicago Bears TE Cole Kmet revealed some helpful advice he recently received from Travis Kelce.
Cole Kmet is learning from the best. The second-year tight end for the Chicago Bears recently attended Tight End University, a three-day event for the tight end position run by some of the greatest to ever do it, including George Kittle, recently retired ex-Bear Greg Olsen and three-time All-Pro Travis Kelce.
Heading into his second season with the Bears, Kmet is expected to take on a bigger role in the offense, and he says he gleaned quite a bit in his three days in tight end land.
“That was really cool. One of the coolest things I’ve done and get around all those guys,” Kmet said on July 29. “It’s interesting, usually on a team you have one tight end, two tight ends maybe — and to get everyone together like that was really cool to just kind of feed off everybody else and see what other guys are doing. For me, watching receivers is nice, but I can’t do the stuff that Darnell Mooney does. I’m just not that fast. So being able to go get guys like Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry and Travis and George and Greg and learn from those guys, that’s very beneficial for me.”
When asked if there was anything specific he learned from working with the likes of Kittle and Kelce, Kmet revealed some words of wisdom courtesy of Kelce that have stuck with him.
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Bears HC Has Been Showing Kmet Film of Kelce
Bears head coach Matt Nagy was Kelce’s offensive coordinator for two seasons (2016-17), and many are wondering if Nagy is going to employ Kmet in some of the same ways he used Kelce. Nagy has certainly been using film of the Kansas City Chiefs tight end as a teaching tool for Kmet.
“Obviously, Coach worked with Travis back in Kansas City and that’s kind of what he’s familiar with,” Kmet said. “So we watched a ton of Kelce tape when he was back in Kansas City on certain concepts and watching Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) tape and how he uses his body. Things like that. With my size and the way I’m able to move, I need to figure out what are my strengths and what are my weakness and how can I get better at those strengths and maximize those weaknesses.”
Kmet caught 28 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns during his rookie campaign, coming on in the second half of the season. He snagged only eight passes through Week 12, but he caught 20 over his final five games, and established himself as a solid route runner with good hands. He should make quite the impact in Year 2 if he stays healthy.
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Kmet Revealed Strong Advice From Kelce
Kmet also shared some very valuable advice Kelce gave him:
“Yeah, I think the big thing with Travis is: don’t run the line in the book,” Kmet said. “That’s a big deal with him. Stay on the quarterback’s timing and be where you have to be but be creative with your routes. Just as long as you’re on that quarterback’s timing and you get in the right spot and you’re open, I mean, no one’s going to say anything. Those are kind of the things that I took … that were definitely beneficial.”
Translation? Do whatever you have to do to get where you need to be to catch the ball when it comes. Pretty straightforward.
When asked about Kelce’s advice to Kmet on August 2, Nagy said this:
“Kelce giving him that advice, I was able to live that for five years there and see it. Kelce puts his own little deal on a lot of routes that not everybody can do. But there are some routes that the way he does it, the way he sets up a defender can really be advantageous. Cole has the ability to do that. I actually like when you’re creative and don’t run the lines all the time. I like that. So we talk about details. There’s a Catch-22. But you can only do that with certain people.”
It looks as though Kmet, like Kelce, is going to be one those people.
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